Low fat diet helps reduce risk of breast cancer deaths, study finds

According to a study published Wednesday, a low-fat herbal diet could significantly reduce the risk of breast cancer deaths in women. It seems that eating habits change before tumors develop.

The new findings come from a long-term analysis of the federally funded Women's Health Initiative and include data on more than 48,000 postmenopausal women in the United States. When the WHI study began in 1993, women were between 50 and 60 years old and 70 years old. has never been diagnosed with breast cancer.

Nearly 20,000 of these women spent the next eight years accurately recording what they ate, aiming for less dietary fat, such as red meat and fatty dairy products, and more fruits and vegetables. and whole grains.

The women were followed for 20 years, until 2013. Researchers at the Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute at the Harbor-UCLA Medical Center analyzed the data and found that women who remained true to the plant-based diet low fat had a lower consumption rate of 20%. risk of dying from breast cancer.

"This is the first randomized trial where breast cancer was a criterion for evaluation and we were able to show a reduction in the number of deaths," said Dr. Rowan Chlebowski, author of the report. study, from the Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute.

Breast cancer is the second most deadly cancer in women, according to the American Cancer Society.

The new study did not reveal a significant drop in the number of breast cancer cases, although one does not know why. It's too early to say that a low-fat herbal diet does not protect the woman from breast cancer, experts say.

"It may be that we need more follow-up or that the effects on cases have been greater if the plan had been continued longer," said Dr. Neil Iyengar, who studies the relationship between diet and diet. cancer at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. He was not involved in the new research.

One thing is certain, said Iyengar. "Diet is a powerful tool for changing the way cancer behaves or responds to treatment."

Other cancer experts are in agreement. "This good start will make all the difference through treatment," said Dr. Chasse Bailey-Dorton, chief of the Integrative Oncology Department at the Levine Cancer Institute in Charlotte, North Carolina.

"We do not know why so many of us have breast cancer," Bailey-Dorton said. "There are several factors, but the more factors you can eliminate, the more different the result will be."

The results should be presented at the annual conference of the American Society of Clinical Oncology in June.

More metabolic risk factors, more benefits

The researchers looked closely at the metabolic risk factors in women, such as abdominal fat, hypertension, high cholesterol and hyperglycemia. The more a woman has metabolic risk factors, the higher her risk of developing cancer.

"Most people are aware that obesity increases the risk of diabetes and heart disease, but many are unaware of the risk of cancer," Iyengar told NBC News. Obesity is a major risk factor for at least 13 different cancers, according to the National Cancer Institute.

This study found that the higher the metabolic risk of a woman, the greater the benefit of the food intervention was large. When the research team became interested in women with three or four metabolic risk factors, the risk of death from breast cancer dropped by 69%.

Women participating in the study were asked not to consume more than 20% of daily calories from fat. Few have achieved this goal, but it does not matter. The benefits were significant even though women were able to reduce their fat intake that's up to 24.5% of their daily calories.

"If we move the needle in a favorable way and we do not quite reach that goal," said Mr. Iyengar, "it seems that there is a benefit."

And study participants did this by staying in their comfort zone. "You can do it largely with substitutions, by not changing what you eat, but by changing the preparation and choosing smaller portions," said Chlebowski.

That means eating a 4 ounce steak, rather than a 8 ounce serving, for example. This removes some of the dietary fat, but also leaves room on the plate to add vegetables or cereals.

Others say the results reinforce what they've been counseling for a long time, although the focus on fat has changed over the years.

According to Karen Basen-Engquist, an expert in cancer prevention, at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston in the early 1990s, at the beginning of the study, concern continued.

"We are now focusing on saturated fats," Basen-Engquist said. "It's possible that if they design this study today, they're probably putting a lot more emphasis on saturated fats from meat and dairy products."

Erika Edwards

Erika Edwards is the journalist and journalist specializing in the fields of health and medicine for NBC News and Today.